Expedia, a US-based online travel company, has announced its 2012 Flip Flop Report, which provides results of a survey of beach vacations that was conducted with more than 8,000 participants across the globe.
The survey indicated that beach vacations continue to remain popular with holiday enthusiasts, with around 52 percent of the respondents planning on taking a beach holiday in the next 12 months. The respondents, from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, answered that on average they take about 7.7 days of beach holiday in a single trip.
However, Koreans, Japanese and Singaporeans seem to prefer a beach weekend rather than extended stays, and Argentineans spend an average of 11 days at a time at beach destinations. Also, while beach lovers in the US tend to revisit old haunts, new locations find favour with Indians.
The report also says relaxing and sunbathing are the top two favourite activities for beachgoers of five continents. 75 percent of Irish travellers that voted had opted for relaxing on the beach, while 79 percent of Mexicans prefer sunbathing. Brazilians, with 40 percent of total votes, were the most likely to engage in some kind of exercise on the beach.
Joe Megibow, the vice president and general manager of Expedia, said, ‘We’ve just completed our first annual Flip Flop Report which digs deep into what people like about beach travel. Not surprisingly, what they like when they’re planning a trip is saving money, so we’re launching the biggest Summer Sale in Expedia’s history. The report also shows that, once people are actually on vacation, they find a wide variety of ways to have their own kind of fun, whether that’s sports in the sand, surfing in the waves or whatever kind of sunbathing they prefer.’
